Inclined railway.



PATENTED NOV. 13., 1906.

WITNESSES 1m: NORRIS pzrrgcn wnnmarm. s. c

- UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN C. BRUEN, OF BROOKLYN,.,NEW YORK. f lNCLlNED RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 16,1906; Serial No. 306.359.

Nb. 835,662. Patented Nov. 13,1906.

To all h it y ri 1 tion is applied. Neither do I wish to be lim Be it knownthat I, EDWIN-O. BRUEN, a ited to any particular means of fastening the] citizen of the United States, and a resident of rails to the ties Cir-sleepers. I have found, Brookl'yn,in the county of Kings and State however, that the'form ofrails and method of 6c of New York, have invented certain new and fastening them shown the drawings is useful Improvements in Inclined Railways, cheap and efficient. of which the following is a specification. In order to lower the temperature of the My invention relates to improvements in rails to a freezing-point, I circulate through inclined railways, and particularly to an inthem a supply of cold air .or freezing gas or 6; cline railway upon the rails of which a coatfiuid by means of a suitable pump, and in or-' ing or layer of 106' of any desired thickness der to do this effectively and economically I may be formed at any time by artificial arrange suitable return-pipes (not shown') means. connecting with the rails at theend of the The main object of my invention is'to prochute or slide. By this means a complete duce an inclined ice-railway chiefly adapted circuit for the freezing mediumis attamed. for use as a toboggan-chute or slide during When the temperature of the rails has been those periods of the year when the temperareduced sufficiently, the moisture already ex ture is above the freezing-point. isting in the surrounding atmosphere in a- My invention may also be utilized to make gaseous state will condense upon thesurface a railway of the typekn'own as roller-coast of the rails and freeze, and as the air surers, in which aseries of inclines are emrounding the rails is constantly changing by loyed to form an undulatory track. natural. circulation the 'ice 'J 'will continue to While my invention is particularly adaptform upon the rails until the desired degree of ed for use in climates and at temperatures thickness is obtained, when the supply of when ice does not-form naturally, it will be freezing medium may be reduced or out o understood from the following description entirely, or' instead of 'relying upon the that it may be utilized during all seasons of supply of moisture drawn from this source I the year. may arrange means for sprinkling a su ply of Having these objects in view, my said inwater upon the rails, such as a to oggan 8 vention consists in an inclined railway the equipped with a water-tank and sprinkling rails of which are hollow and may'at any attachment, which may be sent over the time be provided with a layer or coating of railway from time to time. ice of any desired thickness by artificial I refer to laceastrip of felt or other nonmeans, as hereinafter described. con uctor of eat F around the lower half of My invention also includes the details of the rails B, the object being to prevent the construction, as hereinafter fullydescribed, formation of ice upon that portion of the and pointed out in the claims. rails to which it is applied, and I also prefer In the drawings, in the several figures of to envelop the felt with a Waterproof matewhich like parts are similarly designated, rial G to rotect it from the moisture, as if it 5 Figure 1 is a erspective view of a portion of is allo we to get wet its non-conducting propa chute or sli e. Fig. .2 is a side view of one erties are .impaired. A convenient metho of the rails thereof with the coatin of ice of securin the felt or other non-conducting broken away; and Fig. 3 is a sectiono Fig. 2, material tothe rails is shown in the wire taken on the line a; m. Fig. 4 is a detail show- H, which is wrapped spirally around the two, ing the arrangement of a group of pipes to the said wire being covered by a layer or form a starting-platform. coatin of ice when the chute is ready for In the drawings, A designates the sleepers use. he guards I should be arranged on or tie-beams for the sup ort of the rails. either side of the track to insure the safe de- B'designates the rai s, here shown in the scent of the tobog an. 7 form of iron or steel pipes, which are se- While I have s own in the'drawings a curely held to the sleepers by the straps or chute or inclined railway having two rai s, it bands C. I do not wish to limit myself,

is obvious that a. greater number may be however, to any form of rail, as any form of used, if necessary or desirable. hollow rail will answer the purpose, and the In the use of my improved chute the ordi- 1 1o precise shape and strength thereof will denary form of toboggan may be employed,

pend upon the purpose to which my invenwhich this case should be of a width greater than the distance between the two rails, the tobogganbeing guided in its descent by the uards I.

In Fig. 4 o the drawings I have shown a group or series of pipes K, arranged side by side and preferably united by T connections and provided with a branch ipe K, from Whic the ipes constituting tl fe rails B may extend. hese pi es K are to be provided with the non-conductor F and waterproof material G, which may be arranged and a lied as described with reference tothe rails or the pipes K may be embedded in the The object of non-conducting material.

this construction is to have a starting-plat- I form for the tobog ans which may at any time be rovided wit a layer or coating of ice of any esired thickness by the same means and in the manner described for the rails. It is obvious that any desired'number of these pi es K may be employed.

llVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An inclined ice-railway consisting of two or more exposed hollow rails having their u per surfaces coated with ice to form a c ute,. substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. An inclined ice-railway, consisting of two or more hollow rails, and means for forming a layer or coating of ice directly upon the upper surfaces thereof.

3. A toboggan chute or slide consisting of two or more hollow rails, said rails having a layer or'coating of ice formed directly upon their up er surfaces by the action of a'freezing me ium circulating through said rails upon liquid or moisture de osited thereon, substantially as described. or the purposes set forth.

4. An inclined. ice-railway consisting of two or more hollow rails, said rails having a ing me ium circulating through said rails I upon liquid or moisture deposited thereon,

and means for de ositing a sup ly of liquid upon the rails, su stantially as escribed.

5. An inclined ice-railway consisting of two or more hollow rails, and means for forming a layer or coating of ice upon the upper surfaces thereof, said rails being provided on the lower surfaces with a covering of nonconducting material to prevent the formation of ice upon such portions, substantially as described.

6. An inclined ice-railway consisting of two or more hollow rails having a convex icesurface formed upon the upper surfaces of said rails, substantially as described.

7. A platform for an inclined railway consisting of a group of pipes, and means for forming a layer or coating of ice upon the upper surfaces thereof, said pipes being provi ed on the lower surfaces with a covering of non-conducting material to prevent the formation of ice upon such portions, substantially as described.

8. An ice-platform consisting of a series of pipes, and means for forming a layer or coating of ice upon the upper surfaces thereof, said pipes being provided on the lower surfaces with a bed or covering of non-conducting material to prevent the formation of ice upon such portions, substantially as described.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 8th day of March, A. D. 1906.

EDWIN C. BRUEN.

Witnesses WM. CHAMBREOHT. Momus SPIEGEL. 

